Sixty-one percent of Americans expressed confidence in Special Counsel Robert Mueller‘s ability to conduct a fair investigation into Russia’s involvement in the 2016 presidential election, according to new data published by the Pew Research Center.
Of the 61 percent of Americans who expressed confidence in the investigation, 25 percent reported feeling very confident; 36 percent said were are only somewhat confident.
Republicans were less likely than their left-leaning counterparts to express confidence that Mueller will conduct a fair investigation. A minority of Republicans, 46 percent, expressed feeling very or somewhat confident in a fair investigation, contrasted with 75 percent of Democrats who felt confident about Mueller’s efforts.
Republicans were also less likely to believe that Russia’s interference helped either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election. Seventy-five percent said that Russia’s meddling did not help either candidate. But 74 percent of Democrats thought it did benefit the Trump campaign.
Pew’s latest numbers on Americans’ approval of Mueller’s investigation mark an increase over survey data gathered in December, when only 55 percent of Americans expressed confidence in the investigation.
The increase in confidence has mainly stemmed from a 7 percent increase in the number of Democrats or otherwise left-leaning folks who say they are at least somewhat confident in the investigation.
